Convict biopic tops Trilogy development plan

Also slated are pix from 'Oleander,' 'Underworld' scribes

HOLLYWOOD — “Hacksaw,” a biographical drama to be directed by Ron Shelton, tops a development slate of a dozen projects from Pen Densham and John Watson’s Trilogy Entertainment Group.

Adapted by Al Reinert (“Apollo 13″) and Shelton from “Hacksaw: The Autobiography of Ed Jones,” pic is the true story of Ed “Hacksaw” Jones, a man renowned for his ability to break out of any prison. Imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, Jones escaped from 14 prisons, jails and chain gangs over 20 years and earned a spot on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list.

With MGM, Trilogy will also produce “Boys From the Hill,” based on the lives of four first-generation Italian-American WWII servicemen. Set against the backdrop of the 1950 World Cup, the group defeated a heavily favored English soccer team. Mark Friedman penned the script.

Set up at Paramount Pictures is “If Not for You,” an epic romance that moves from the Vietnam era through the start of the AIDS crisis. Peter Kosminsky (“White Oleander”) will direct from a screenplay by Garry Williams (“Brown Eyed Girl”).

Doing wheelies

Gold Circle Films is financing the thriller “Nexus,” the story of a young girl who plots revenge when trapped in a wheelchair after a traffic accident. Danny McBride (“Underworld”) penned the script; Gold Circle’s Paul Brooks will produce with Trilogy.

The company is also developing several projects written by principals Densham and Watson.

Densham penned and will direct “Blue Eden,” a family adventure about a child raised by dolphins on a Pacific island. He’s also written “Silver and Steel,” a fantasy-adventure about a San Francisco schoolteacher recruited into a secret mystical organization descended from the Knights of the Round Table.

Watson wrote “The Kingmaker,” which follows the story of Merlin in King Arthur’s court, as well as “Special Tactics,” an epic family drama set against the LAPD’s SWAT team from the early 1970s through present day.

Other Trilogy projects include “The ‘M’ Word,” a romantic comedy about love and marriage. Rob Iscove (“She’s All That”) is attached to direct from a screenplay by Simon Goltsman.

“Racing in the Streets,” from an original screenplay by Mark James, is a nonlinear action drama about an assistant DA who is forced to team up with an ex-Mafia driver.

Trilogy is also developing “Micronauts” by Peter Iliff (“Patriot Games”), a sci-fi/action film about what happens when an experimental military device designed to shrink soldiers to mini proportions falls into the wrong hands.

“Shoot on Sight,” the debut feature from veteran television movie scribe Richard Leder, is an action thriller about an ex-military American game hunter who finds redemption aboard a merchant marine ship in the middle of the ocean.

Trilogy, which will produce the Halle Berry starrer “Brown Eyed Girl” for MGM, most recently exec produced “The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys” with Egg Pictures. They are in production on the UPN series “Twilight Zone” and the Sci Fi Channel’s “The Outer Limits.”